Vandell

Los Angeles, California

No. 68 on North America's 50 Best Bars 2026 and Top 4 finalist for Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar at the 2026 Spirited Awards.

Shawn Lickliter and Vay Su opened on Hillhurst Avenue in December 2025 with thirty cocktails organized into signatures, classics with vintage spirits, zero-proof options, and forgotten recipes, gimlets, Saratogas, built from a backbar stocking vintage 1970s Campari and rare bottles. Lines form nightly down the block. The retro, low-lit room with dimly lit alcoves and a Red Room alcove channels mid-century Los Feliz without the irony. Vandell arrived without rankings but with the kind of instant neighborhood loyalty that rankings eventually follow. The walk-in queue is the price of admission. It was a Top 4 finalist for Best New U.S.